Dante Vinci believes Hillspeed has found the right setup for Qualifying after he maintained top-five pace across both days of GB3 Championship testing at the Red Bull Ring.
The 17-year-old finished fourth in Friday’s combined classification, only 0.381 seconds behind championship leader Nikita Bedrin. He also ended the final session in third, continuing a consistent run near the front of the field.
Vinci has previously shown strong testing speed without carrying the same performance into Qualifying. However, the Australian believes his sustained pace in Austria gives him a better opportunity to improve on his season-best starting position of eighth.
Vinci believes Hillspeed has found its Qualifying setup
Vinci has regularly featured near the front during pre-event testing this season. Nevertheless, he and Hillspeed have struggled to preserve that level of competitiveness once the championship moves into Qualifying.
The Sydney native believes this weekend has followed a more encouraging pattern. Rather than fading as testing progressed, Vinci remained among the leading drivers and used the available sessions to assess several setup options.
He now enters Qualifying with greater confidence in both the car and the work Hillspeed completed across Thursday and Friday.
“It’s happened a few times where we are really quick in testing and we haven’t been able to maintain it,” he admitted to GB3. “But, this weekend, it has actually been a lot stronger.
“We’ve been able to maintain it, we’ve tested a lot of things with the car, we’ve found the right setup for quali and I’m going into it confident with the package we have.”
That consistency marked an important improvement for Vinci. He placed fifth in Thursday’s combined order before moving to fourth on Friday, despite the changing circuit conditions across six separate sessions.
Final-session pace strengthens Vinci’s confidence
Vinci reinforced his position among the leading contenders during Friday afternoon’s final session.
Abbi Pulling set the pace for Rodin Motorsport, while Bedrin claimed second. Vinci followed in third and finished only 0.124 seconds behind Pulling’s benchmark.
His result continued a strong day in which he regularly appeared near the top of the timing screens. However, Vinci does not plan to settle for a place on the second row when the competitive action begins.
He intends to review his data and identify any remaining areas where he can improve before the two-part Qualifying session.
“I’m still going to look at what I can fix, because I don’t want to be in P3, I want to be on the top step,” he said. “I’m going to do what I can, but it has been consistently good and that is a very good sign going into quali.”
Although Vinci wants to fight for pole position, he must contend with a closely matched field. Just 0.673 seconds covered the first 10 drivers in Friday’s combined classification, while 17 competitors finished within 0.835 seconds of Bedrin.
Small improvements could therefore produce significant changes in the order. Equally, a minor mistake could cost several grid positions around the short Red Bull Ring lap.
Red Bull Ring suits Vinci’s driving style
Vinci also believes the Red Bull Ring naturally suits his strengths as a driver.
The Austrian circuit combines heavy braking zones with fast corners and significant elevation changes. Drivers must attack the braking areas confidently while maintaining momentum through the quicker sections.
Vinci demonstrated his comfort with those demands by recording competitive times throughout both days. Unlike at some previous events, he did not experience a noticeable decline in performance as testing continued.
“With other tracks, there has been a slight decrease in performance over the testing but now we have been able to maintain it,” he said. “Following that trend, [qualifying] should just be ‘do the job and see where it takes us’.”
That approach will allow Vinci to concentrate on executing a clean lap rather than chasing a major change in performance. Hillspeed has already established a competitive baseline, leaving the Australian to maximise the package during the short Qualifying runs.
Vinci targets best starting position of the season
Vinci’s strongest Qualifying result of the campaign came at Spa-Francorchamps, where he secured eighth on the grid.
However, his Red Bull Ring testing pace suggests he can challenge much closer to the front. He finished ahead of Thursday pace-setter Deagen Fairclough on Friday and remained within half a second of Bedrin’s leading time.
The two-part Qualifying format will place additional pressure on Vinci to deliver more than one competitive lap. He must also manage traffic carefully, with 20 cars competing on a circuit where lap times sit close to the 1m24s range.
Nevertheless, Vinci approaches the session with confidence after Hillspeed produced two consistently competitive days. He now aims to convert that promise into the strongest grid position of his GB3 season.
Qualifying begins at 10:20 local time on Saturday, before Race 1 starts at 14:25.
